The milestone was reached on Monday and Sandovik Mining Asia Pacific president Rowan Melrose paid tribute to workers. He called the accomplishment remarkable, saying that it reflects the commitment made in mining employment by the company’s workers. He noted that today’s workforce values safety and the work environment and it is demonstrated by the culture and behavior of employees in the Sandovik family.
Melrose explained that the results were a net effort from the company’s holdings in Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Mongolia, Indonesia and South East Asia. The colossal achievement encompassed more than 2881 employees. Many of those workers were directly involved in mining employment spanning a variety of sites and working conditions.

It is an outstanding accomplishment for Sandovik and the mining industry as a whole. It demonstrates what commitment to safety and the continuing effort to improve standards in the workplace can do. Hitting a mark like this raises the bar for the rest of the mining industry and that is a good thing. The news also elevates Sandovik’s desirability as the mining company to work for.
The results were not reached without facing a few challenges.

Melrose said the company’s understanding of safety and the systems needed to secure it were immature when he took the helm in 2007. It forced the company into a 12-18 month period of evaluation and change. Awareness, education and improvements were the cornerstone of the record the company has since built. From a TRIFR of 45 and an LTIFR of 15 in 2007, the company halved incidents, reporting a TRIFR of 25 and an LTIFR of 7.5 at the end of that period.
Things leveled off there for the next couple of years. In order to attain the desired zero-harm work environment they wanted, Sandovik instituted changes designed to bring about cultural and behavioral change. Standards were altered and the focus on individual actions and performance was stepped up.
Programs were instituted that reduced the number of injuries to the point where Sandovik has been LTI-free for a full year. In mining employment, this is a phenomenal achievement.